Wildlife carers between the New South Wales Mid North Coast and Victoria have reported being inundated with malnourished, deceased or dying grey-headed flying foxes over the last few months. The bat species is suspected to have been impacted by a shortage of nectar due to drought, pushing them to search for food in unfamiliar areas.
University of Newcastle conservation professor Matt Hayward said the lack of nectar would have a ripple effect on other species. "Lots of Australian birds rely on nectar [as well as] flying foxes … so we could see a really big decline in all of those species," he said.
As keystone pollinators, flying foxes play a vital role in maintaining forest ecosystems by dispersing seeds over large distances. Hayward noted that flying up to 50 kilometres each night, the bats spread seeds in appropriate habitat for other species. "Given that the climate is changing so rapidly we really need to ensure that genes [for plants] are being transferred over those distances," he said.
There are 11 colonies of grey-headed flying foxes in the Hunter region, including a nationally significant colony of 40,000 at Blackbutt Nature Reserve in Newcastle. Hayward said the species was already vulnerable before this drought and additional pressure could push it closer to extinction.
Hunter Wildlife volunteer Kerry Walker described the situation as a crisis. "I mean this is a crisis, it's a disaster situation in reality so it should be responded to as a disaster," she said. Walker warned of a domino effect: "If we don't have [the bats] then we don't have the gum trees, then we don't have a whole lot of different species of birds or animals."